GPs and clinicians treating patients in and around West Yorkshire will soon have quicker access to information at their surgeries and health clinics thanks to a new fibre-optic network from Virgin Media Business. The Health Informatics Service (THIS), the largest provider of IT services to the healthcare and social care sectors, is leading the project which is aimed at reducing the numbers of unnecessary journeys to hospital by revolutionising information sharing.

The new Wide Area Network is being rolled out to seven NHS trusts in the Huddersfield, Calderdale and Wakefield area, with plans to extend its reach as patient and GP take-up increases. It will deliver Managed Internet Access and IP Voice services, as well as carry videoconferencing applications for use in a clinical environment. The new network will support the movement of large images and data such as X-rays, which need to be sent at high speed and archived centrally. The trusts will also be able to make substantial savings compared to the costs of providing the services at central hospitals.

Source: Virgin Media Business